Category Archives: Chemistry

Production Although Helium is one of the most common elements in the universe it is a rare gas on earth. It exists in the atmosphere in such small quantities (less than five parts per million) that recovering it from the air is uneconomical. Helium is produced as a by-product of the refining of natural gas,…

Gallium, atomic number 31, is very similar to aluminum in its chemical properties. It does not dissolve in nitric acid because of the protective film of gallium oxide that is formed over the surface by the action of the acid. Gallium does however dissolve in other acids, and alkalies. Gallium was discovered (1875) by…

I. Purpose To determine the freezing point of a known substance, naphthalene II. Materials ringstand gas source test tube test tube clamps thermometer naphthalene Bunsen burner goggles hose stopwatch III. Procedure 1. Assemble the Bunsen burner, attaching one end of the hose to the burner and the other to a gas source. 2. Assemble the…

The Frank J. horgan Filtration Plant is located Southeast of Toronto on the shores of Lake Ontario (See map). Its purpose is to provide safe drinking water to our taps by filtering the water. The water is gathered from Lake Ontario. This plant has a production capacity of 455 million litres per day to supply…

Purpose In this lab we will observe the products of decomposition of potassium perchlorate (KClO4). We will then predict from our results the correct chemical reaction equation. Procedure 1. Weigh out about 4.0g of KClO4 in a test tube. Record the accurate weight below. Product Weight Before Weight After Mass of Test tube + KClO4 …

Copper is a mineral. It is not a plant or an animal. Copper is a metallic metal. It can never be broken down into different substances by normal chemical means. Copper was one of the first metals known to humans. People liked it because in its native condition, it could easily be beaten into weapons…

(C18 H2, NO3 H3PO4 1/2 H2O) Codeine is known medically as methylmorphine. It is a drug derived from opium, a poppy plant. It was discovered in 1832 by French chemist Pierre-Jean Robiquet. Codeine constitutes about 0.5 to 2.5 percent of this plant substance. The drug has been in use since the early 1900’s and it…

Cobalt is the 27th element on the periodical table and has an atomic number of twenty-seven. It has a symbol of Co. Cobalt¹s atomic weight is 58.9332. It has a melting point of 1,490š C. and a boiling point of 2,900š C. Cobalt looks almost exactly like iron and nickel. Cobalt is between iron and…

Chlorine is (at room temperature) a greenish-yellow gas that can be readily liquefied at 5170 Tarr or 6.8 atmospheres, at 20 C (68 F), and has a very disagreeable odor. Its Element Symbol is Cl, atomic number is 17, and atomic mass is 35.453. Chlorine’s melting point is -101 C or 149.8 F. The boiling…

Chloroflourocarbons were discovered in the 1920’s by Thomas Midgley, an organic chemist at General Motors Corporation. He was looking for inert, non-toxic, non-flammable compounds with low boiling points that could be used as refrigerants. He found what he was looking for in the form of two compounds: dichlorodifluoromethane (CFC-12) and trichloromonoflouromethane (CFC-11). In both compounds,…

Notice when a vehicle driven by nowadays, that it is so much quieter than those loud oldies that pour out the blue smoke. Ever wonder just what is underneath a vehicle that makes the new ones so much cleaner. It is called a catalytic converter. The main function of a catalytic converter is to decrease…

Spray cans produce an aerosol, the technical term for a very fine spray. They do this by means of a pressurized propellant, which is a liquid that boils at everyday temperatures. Inside the can, a layer of gaseous pressure increased, and eventually it becomes so high that boiling stops. When the nozzle is pressed, the…

Facts and Stats Rohypnol is used by people of all socioeconomic classes This drug is generally used by men of all classes to put into the drinks of women at bars “DATE RAPE” When consumed, women do not remember anything and they are at the disposal of the male, be it a homeless person or…

Toxicologists study poisons and conduct experiments on them to determine how safe or dangerous they could potentially be to animals, plants, and humans. Since chemicals are a vital part of everything we come into contact with, it is important to know the potential danger that is within our environment and what effects these dangers will…

As millions of tons of organic compounds find their way into the water systems of the world, the environmental problems that result are colossal. This negligence might not affect the environment directly, but they have long term effects. Some of these problems include: Heavy metal accumulates in lakes and ponds nearby an industry, and this…

Part A: Determining the complete rate law The order of reaction with respect to the iodate ion, m, must be determined for the following rate. It is assumed that the order of reaction with respect to the bisulfate is zero, thus n is zero. Sample calculation done for the first C2 value and the first…

Purpose The purpose of this investigation is to explore the percent yield of the precipitate in the reaction Introduction For known amounts of reactants, theoretical amounts of products can be calculated in a chemical reaction or process. Calculated amounts of products are called theoretical yield. In these calculations, the limiting reactant is the limiting factor…

Purpose The purpose of this investigation is to determine the effect that varying temperatures have on the rate of a reaction. Introduction Based on the Kinetic Molecular Theory, the central idea of the collision model is that molecules must collide to react. Therefore, the greater number the number of collisions per second, the greater the…